Day 15: Hello, Bay Area

We passed through Santa Cruz and Los Gatos on the way up to San Francisco, but with the GPS stating only a couple of hours left in our journey, we didn't stop to look around.

Arriving in Oakland, home of some of the best signs.

And street art--

A few days before leaving on our trip we watched The Graduate at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, NJ. If that doesn't make you want to drive a sleek, Alfa Romeo on the Pacific Coast Highway, I don't know what does.

We spent most of the day circling the East Bay scouring for apartments in this highly competitive, exorbitantly expensive real estate market. No luck today!

We spent a while parked here in front of a possible contender ($1500/mo studio apartment in Berkeley is considered a good deal). This cat eventually sat right where that metal cat stands, above the door.

Day 14: Pacific Coast Highway

Morning stroll and coffee in Venice...

Endless, excellent street art.

And some fabulous trees, too...

Here we are on the Pacific Coast Highway, heading North to San Francisco.

We walked down this path to the coastline because we heard sea lions. Turns out I'd scraped my legs through a bunch of poison oak... poor choices!

Proud to be lounging.

Foggy, winding roads of Big Sur.

There was no camping available throughout Big Sur, so we ended up crashing in Aptos.

Day 11: American Dreams in Vegas

Waking up to an obscene level of heat! Someone's renovating their yard...

Raul's friend, Raúl, who worked with him in Havana.

You don't have to go to the casinos to gamble in Las Vegas-- but you can't buy the lottery.

A fish tank full of rice.

Raúl and (believe it or not)Alex chilling poolside. I never expected to hear the name Fidel Castro so many times on a 4th of July.

Rauly in his element.

The most gorgeous sunset.

We heard fireworks and, later, thunder. It even down-poured for a hot second, which is rare in Las Vegas.

A very large beetle. We saw way too many cockroaches for my taste scurrying throughout the city.

 Such a sweet familia! Gracias por todo.

Out on the town, and this is the wall in the parking lot stairwell of some casino. Not just on this floor, on EVERY floor. Huh?

 Casino life...

Although I saw more than my fair share of over-intoxicated individuals and gambling addicts, I would return to Vegas to explore that underground magic and entertainment scene.

Liberace's Rolls Royce, of course. 

The Bellagio was so over-the-top and tacky that I couldn't help but love it. It was like someone tripped on hallucinogens and got a glass-blower to create everything imaginable.

Late night Mexican fast food, if five-pound burritos is your kind of thing at 3AM.